1. Technical Field
The method disclosed herein relates to the attachment of a braided suture to a surgical incision member.
2. Background of the Art
Surgical incision members and sutures are long known in the art. Referring to FIG. 1, a prior art surgical incision member-suture combination is shown. The typical surgical incision member 10 comprises a shaft having a pointed tip 11 at one end for piercing tissue, and a barrel portion 12 at the other end. The shaft may be curved, as shown, or straight. An axial bore 13 in the barrel end 12 is provided to receive the end portion of a surgical suture 20.
The suture can be a monofilament or multifilament suture, and can be bioabsorbable or non-bioabsorbable. The suture is generally tipped to create a stiffened non-brooming end which can be inserted into the bore in the surgical incision member. The barrel end of the surgical incision member is then crimped to retain the suture.
To reduce trauma to body tissue, it is desirable to have a surgical incision member of the smallest diameter necessary to perform the intended operation. Ideally, the diameter of the surgical incision member would be no larger than the diameter of the suture. However, surgical incision members are usually larger in diameter than the sutures because the sutures must be accommodated by the surgical incision member bore, which necessarily is smaller than the surgical incision member outer diameter. One way of minimizing the surgical incision member diameter is by allowing a thinner surgical incision member wall diameter around the bore. However, this has the disadvantage of weakening the metal and increasing the possibility that the metal will crack or shatter when the barrel end is crimped.
What is needed, then, is a method for attaching a suture to a surgical incision member which allows use of a thinner surgical incision member, preferably one which is no larger than the suture.